Nova Kool Refrigerator

[roddy]

Reply to 4 year old post, as I'm ticked off.
NovaCool offers two versions of RFU9000.
They do not make it clear in brochure or web site that RFU9200, twin compressor model should be standard issue.
As the model number implies it has 2 compressors.
Fridge and freezer have dedicated cooling systems.
NovaCool made a decission to promote and picture RFU 9000 fridge / freezer combo, calling it TWO DOOR (emphasis added) model. No where do they indicate, suggest or nudge customers that they should purchase 2 compressor RFU 9200 for true fridge and freezer operation.
Would have been happy to pay for RFU 9200!
Maybe 9000 can be converted to 9200?
Buyer beware.

 

[rslifkin]

I also wish I'd known about the 9200 when I bought my 9000. That said, the 9000 works pretty well, I just wouldn't mind a little more cooling power and a slightly lower freezer temp.

With some added insulation and targeting about 35 degrees in the fridge, stuff in the freezer stays in the high teens on the right side and single digits within the evaporator area on the left (good enough for ice cream although it's a hair softer than ideal).

 

[DDW]

If you are replacing a Nova Kool, do yourself a favor and replace it with a different brand. I replaced mine with an Isotherm, and it is a much better product.

 

[syjos]

The NovaKool refrigerators are reliable and quiet. They will last twice as long, if not longer than a Norcold. The Norcolds become noisey after a few years and start losing the ability to maintain temperature towards end of life.

The NovaKool, Vitrifrigo's and Seafreeze use Danfoss compressors that are quiet and last a long time. The Danfoss compressor can be recharged or replaced. Norcold uses a propritary compressor that on previous models could not be serviced. I'm not sure about current models. Typical life for a Norcold was around 10 years for previous models.

We have a two door Seafreeze with a 12 VDC Danfoss that we purchased in 2000 that is still running quiet and keep temp. The Seafreeze has two separate evaporator, one in the freezer compartment and the other in the refrigerator section to maintain two different temperature. The Seafreeze has thicker insulation. The two door Seafreeze's compressor is not mounted in the refrigerator housing and can be mounted remotely for best air flow. Not having a compressor within the housing allows for more refrigerator capacity by at least a cubic foot.

 

[Comodave]

We have a Vitrifugo that was installed by the PO. It would cool ok but not freeze really well. I added a lower vent by the compressor area and put a small 50 mAmp fan that blows air into and onto the compressor. It is wired to the circuit board so that it comes on when the compressor does. Then I added a vent on the top of the box to let the hot air out. The refer works so much better now. It actually will freeze ice cream hard. I used to sell boats part time for a Chaparral dealer. They had a rep from the factory come and show us features of the boats. One of the features was a low vent and a high vent. They were passive but they found it reduced battery consumption dramatically. But with the fan it works even better.

 

[rslifkin]

In terms of fans, insulation, and even thermostats there's room to improve on just about any off the shelf marine fridge. As far as I'm concerned, you're really buying the box and compressor, the rest should be tweaked and optimized.

 

[Comodave]

This is the fan I used. Been in there for ober a year and working fine. It was $20 on Amazon. The only problem was that the wires are tiny and a bit difficult to crimp.

Noctua NF-F12 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (120mm, Brown)

 

[Frosty]

As far as I'm concerned, you're really buying the box and compressor, the rest should be tweaked and optimized.

I'm with you on that, rslifkin.

I bought one of the Vitrifrigos with the remote compressor. Got another 15 liters of refrigerator (130 vs. 115 for same size box) and I was able to add inches of insulation all around it without being concerned about airflow (compressor is 4' away).

The biggest potential downside is they don't give you quick connects on the copper tubing; so depending on your installation it can be a pain to "thread" the compressor into its space while attached to the fridge with fragile tubing. (I think Seafreeze does have disconnects but the Vitrifrigo is a "stock" unit not custom.)

Compressor is BD35 (BD50 on larger units).

 

[syjos]

Seafreeze refrigerators and freezers are custom made and can be configured any way the client wants. The remote compressor can be disconnected with quick connect fittings and the copper tubing ordered in any length. I mounted the remote compressor 16' away from the frig in a cool ventilated compartment in the pilothouse. The compressor runs about 33% of the time.

The interior shelves and crisper drawers on the Seafreeze are not as nice as Norcolds and Vitrifrigos but we bought the Seafreeze for the performance, remote compressor and large capacity. I can bring the freezer temp close to 0 without the refrigerator section freezing due to the two evaporators.

Full disclosure, I do sell them.

 

[Conrad]

We should have listened to Xsbank. Our rfu 9000 NovaKool behaves exactly as he said; you can have frozen ice cream c/w frozen veggies in the crisper, or neither. Plus the crappy trays are junk. Annually the unit quits for a day and then for some unknown reason starts up again and runs fine.
It would be nice if the doors fitted properly as well; the fridge door does not seal properly and the bottom freezer door has to be very carefully closed or it will spring open.
Our ancient Norcold that was replaced by the NovaKool was a better machine in it's dying days than the NovaKool ever was.

 

[rochepoint]

We love our NovaKool.
Have you talked to the boys at NovaKool, I have found them great to deal with.
Just a happy customer.........

 

[Slowmo]

Seems like everyone has issues with every brand of refrigerator. My beef on our old (10yr) Norcold is the noise and constant cycling (every 5 min). But it keeps working and I deal with the noise by freezing cold packs during the day and shutting the unit off at night (like a manual holding plate).

 

[Conrad]

We love our NovaKool.
Have you talked to the boys at NovaKool, I have found them great to deal with.
Just a happy customer.........

Hi there Mike; yes I called them and it was not pleasant. I was curtly told that if I'd read the manual I would know that I couldn't freeze ice cream. Total brushoff.
(I subsequently reread the manual, such as it was, and could find no reference to freezing ice cream.)

 

[rslifkin]

We should have listened to Xsbank. Our rfu 9000 NovaKool behaves exactly as he said; you can have frozen ice cream c/w frozen veggies in the crisper, or neither. Plus the crappy trays are junk. Annually the unit quits for a day and then for some unknown reason starts up again and runs fine.
It would be nice if the doors fitted properly as well; the fridge door does not seal properly and the bottom freezer door has to be very carefully closed or it will spring open.
Our ancient Norcold that was replaced by the NovaKool was a better machine in it's dying days than the NovaKool ever was.

Cut a piece of 1/2" foam insulation to fit and put it under the crisper trays. That will most likely fix your problem. If that's not enough, add a small fan to circulate the air in the fridge portion to keep the crisper trays from getting so much colder than the top part of the fridge.

I do agree the trays they provide aren't great. They're too low at the front to keep things from sliding out and they're not big enough to avoid the trays themselves sliding around a bit.